Oklahoma Rep. Mike Synar, D, one of Congress’ leading advocates for federal grazing reform, lost a Democratic primary runoff Sept. 20 to a little-known retired school principal. Virgil Cooper defeated the eight-term congressman 52 percent to 48 percent. Ranchers cheered the defeat of the outspoken critic of “welfare cowboys’ using public lands in the West, […]
Mike Synar loses
Posted inOctober 3, 1994: Subdividing the desert: Should there be a vote?
Inspector commits “career suicide’
Steve Jones’ 20-year career in federal safety inspection may be over. He was fired Sept. 14 by the contractor that is building and operating a chemical weapons incinerator at Utah’s Tooele Army Depot. Jones says he’s spent a frustrating three months trying to track down safety violations there. Now Jones is commiting what he calls […]
Posted inOctober 3, 1994: Subdividing the desert: Should there be a vote?
The Southwest’s writers are terrified liars
One of the best modern novels about the real Southwest is in technicolor. It takes place in Prescott, Ariz.: A rodeo performer returns to his hometown, finds out that his brother is bulldozing the home ranch and slicing it up into ranchettes and subdivisions, that his dad is about to hit the road for prospecting […]
Posted inOctober 3, 1994: Subdividing the desert: Should there be a vote?
Burning nerve gas makes me ‘volatile’
For the past two years, I have actively opposed the construction of massive chemical weapons incinerators, both in Tooele County, Utah, where I live and at seven other sites across the nation where chemical weapons are stockpiled. As common folks like me (I’m a librarian) who get involved in controversial issues often say, “It’s been […]
Posted inOctober 3, 1994: Subdividing the desert: Should there be a vote?
An agency icon at 50
CAPITAN, N.M. – Dear Boys and Girls: I’m writing this letter in a beautiful forest where Smokey Bear was born. I came because I’d read that he turned 50 years old in August, and I wanted to see his old stomping grounds. You won’t believe what I found. First of all, everything is named after […]
Posted inOctober 3, 1994: Subdividing the desert: Should there be a vote?
Forest Service accomplishes appeal-proof timber sales
The Forest Service says it has improved the procedure by which citizens can appeal timber sales, but in the agency’s Northern Region, citizens have reason to suspect the opposite. Since the Forest Service revised its procedures in January, 23 citizen appeals have been filed against timber sales in the region. Only one has been upheld. […]
Posted inOctober 3, 1994: Subdividing the desert: Should there be a vote?
Ranchers arrested at wildlife refuge
The arrest of rancher Dwight Hammond for running cattle on a wildlife refuge provokes a wise-use backlash in Oregon.
Posted inOctober 3, 1994: Subdividing the desert: Should there be a vote?
Parental care for uranium tailings only goes so far
A couple of miles from Moab, Utah, and just 300 feet from the Colorado River sprawls a rare deposit: uranium tailings that haven’t yet been orphaned. The parent of the pile, Atlas Minerals Co., is the first uranium developer that can be held responsible for cleaning up its own mess. Typically in the West, nuclear-weapons […]
Posted inOctober 3, 1994: Subdividing the desert: Should there be a vote?
Judge rocks Montana’s open-pit mines
Montana’s hard-rock mining industry has enjoyed smooth sailing through state courts and regulatory agencies. But now a district court judge in Helena has rocked the boat, ruling that reclamation at open-pit mines must include the pit itself. Mining in Montana may never be the same. On Sept. 1, Judge Thomas Honzel ruled that the state […]
Posted inOctober 3, 1994: Subdividing the desert: Should there be a vote?
Dear friends
Rockin’ and rollin’ The rural inland West is going out of its way to make Californians feel welcome. First we had summer fires that blanketed the area in smog. After the fires came the mud flows, including one that blocked Interstate 70 west of Glenwood Springs, Colo. Then on Sept. 13, moments after midnight, western […]
Posted inOctober 3, 1994: Subdividing the desert: Should there be a vote?
Subdividing the desert: Should there be a vote?
TUCSON, Ariz. – Plumber Neale Allen likes to tell the story about driving down a strip where builders were bulldozing cacti for homes and shopping centers, and getting tough questions from his 7-year-old daughter Sarah. “She asked me why they had to scrape everything and kill plants and animals,” recalls Allen, who is 42. “It’s […]
Posted inSeptember 19, 1994: Flame and blame in the Northwest
Hawk sees opportunity, snatches it
Taking a nap on the rocky banks of the Flathead River in Montana can be dangerous, especially if a snake has the same idea. When hiker Bill Gustafson, 17, of Columbia Falls took a break to snooze in the sun July 5, he fell asleep bare-chested. A non-poisonous garter snake then slithered onto his warm […]
Posted inSeptember 19, 1994: Flame and blame in the Northwest
Green buzzword
The Grand Canyon Trust and the National Park Service will hold a three-day symposium to explore the untested concept of ecosystem management as it applies to public and private lands in the West. “Ecosystem Management: Buzzword of the “90s,” which runs Oct. 6-8 in Flagstaff, Ariz., features National Park Service Director Roger Kennedy; Ray Rasker, […]
Posted inSeptember 19, 1994: Flame and blame in the Northwest
Save a river
Have you ever wanted to save a river from a dam or pollution but felt frustrated by not knowing how to begin? David M. Bolling effectively channels this passion in his book How to Save a River: A Handbook for Citizen Action. Full of case studies from successful fights to stop dams on rivers such […]
Posted inSeptember 19, 1994: Flame and blame in the Northwest
Return of Compound 1080?
One of the most lethal poisons ever used in the West’s war on predators may be staging a comeback. President Richard Nixon banned Compound 1080 in 1972 following its widespread misuse and the death of untold numbers of birds, animals and even humans. Now the Texas Department of Agriculture wants the EPA to allow its […]
Posted inSeptember 19, 1994: Flame and blame in the Northwest
Dueling studies
Will an injunction prohibiting grazing on eastern Oregon’s Wallowa-Whitman and Umatilla national forests devastate the local economy? Yes, says Oregon State University economist Fred Obermiller. No, says Pacific Rivers Council, the environmental group whose lawsuit forced the injunction to protect habitat needed by endangered salmon. The dueling studies respond to a July federal court ruling […]
Posted inSeptember 19, 1994: Flame and blame in the Northwest
Sue the cattle
Open range, one of the West’s oldest prerogatives, needs to be retired, according to a new activist group, the Alliance for Property Rights. The alliance, based in Hailey, Idaho, is collecting horror stories from people whose property has been trampled or who have suffered car wrecks due to wandering livestock. “Clearly this is an ongoing […]
Posted inSeptember 19, 1994: Flame and blame in the Northwest
What every land trust should know
The land trust may be one of the last defenses Western communities have against the rapid development of private lands. The Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts will hold an Oct. 8-9 workshop in Estes Park, Colo., to help land people stay abreast of the latest tools of the trade. Hosted by the Estes Valley Land […]
Posted inSeptember 19, 1994: Flame and blame in the Northwest
Utah publisher celebrates 25
Twenty-five years ago in Layton, Utah, north of Salt Lake City, in an old barn owned by his mother-in-law, historian Gibbs Smith set up shop. He replaced the roof which had blown off in a storm, agreed to share one half with the cows, then started turning out books. A quarter of a century later, […]
Posted inSeptember 19, 1994: Flame and blame in the Northwest
Plenty of room in Colorado
A report released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says Colorado can support at least 1,128 wolves. The agency studied seven national forests and their surrounding public and private lands, and determined that Colorado’s abundant elk and deer herds would not only sustain wolves but also discourage them from killing livestock. The report estimates […]